First AA meeting
 

Tonight will be my first AA meeting. I've been trying to stop but nothing has worked for me.
AA scares me though. I don't want to turn into a pod person. I don't want to join a cult and wind up like Tom Cruise.
But I have to stop and nothing has worked - so I don't see any other choice for me.
This board has warmed me up to the idea. So thanks for that.
It's frightening though. I don't know what to expect.

Please make an informed decision about AA before you go off and call it a cult or that AA members are pod people. AA is made up of people--good and bad. Many have quit drinking and the program saved their lives. If that's what you want to do, then open your mind, your heart, and give it a try. More than one or two meetings.

Then if you don't like it, leave. But have a backup plan for your recovery.

Please try to drop all the things "you think you know about AA".

Just go open minded and listen.. I am not religous just as many are not either. Its not a religous program its a spirtial one. Thats for later. First and foremost is everyone is there to live without alcohol.. :)

Your First AA Meeting<

I go daily and have for almost 2 years. I love it now.. Come back and tell us how it went. :)

I am a very happy and very sober Pod person. Go to a meeting with an open mind and do not look for differances look for similarities. AA'ers are the nicest most open people I have ever met and all they want is for you to get better. AA has few rules and few absolutes. Your path to recovery will be your path to recovery. Just like the world there are people from one walk of life to another. Some have good sobriety some do not. Take what you want and leave the rest.

Dave - This link may be helpful to you. Your First AA Meeting<

It's normal to be nervous. I sure was.

As far as I know, Tom Cruise isn't a member AA. He's a member of something else ....

I promise you AA folks are not pod people. Set aside all that you think you know and just go with an open mind.

AA saved my life. I tried and tried and tried to quit on my own. I could not do it. I did not want to have to subscribe to others beliefs or conform to others ideas. I thought I would have to but I was way off.

Let us know how it goes!!

Thanks all
 

Sorry - I didn't mean to belittle AA or the people in it.
Just that it scares the crap out of me. I'm not a trusting person so it makes me wonder why others would even care about my problems.
Plus it seems so secret.
But you folks seem very real so I'm going to give it a shot.

I think it's sobriety that scares the heck out of you...I know it scared me.

Until I got sober.

I don't know that it's accurate to refer to AA members as "POD people".

They do have a lingo and a way of looking at things--and you are allowed not to care for either aspect of it, although it's best not to decide until you've had some exposure.

You also might want to check out other recovery approaches, like SMART Recovery or AVRT. They have their own lingo and philosophy, too. SMART is full of acronyms (CBT, REBT, HOV, ABC...seriously!) and AVRT talks about the "Big Plan" and "the Beast").

What are pod people?

Don't be scared Dave. AA is the nicest place ever and people really do care, the same way they do here.

I have never experienced anything negative there and I have a sneaking suspicion that most of the 'horror' stories are just highly defensive drunk people. I only say that because that's what I was like.

There really is no bad there. Good luck x

[QUOTE=favedave;3678266]Sorry - I didn't mean to belittle AA or the people in it.
Just that it scares the crap out of me. I'm not a trusting person so it makes me wonder why others would even care about my problems.
QUOTE]

dont feel bad,dave. i didnt trust anyone at the meetings when i 1st got into AA. it took time for them folks to earn my trust. then i learned that trust thing is a 2 way street. i had to earn their trust and show i was serious about recovery.

its not a cult. yer free to come and go as you wish.
i hope that the fear of getting drunk is greater than the fear of the unknown.
just gotta get ya some courage.


why do we care about your problems?
becuae we have been in your shoes and have found a solution we of AA can all agree on and are willing to carry that to the still sick and suffering alcoholic.

With a name like anonymous chances are it will be somewhat closed off to the rest of the world because most people are very careful about who they tell. AA uses a theory of "Attraction not promotion." The people who are at an AA meeting for the most part want to be there unless they are court ordered

I do like the phase Pod Person. Not accurate but kind of cute

Hope your meeting goes well tonight dave.

I had all sorts of ideas about AA and it kept me out of the rooms for a long time.

All my ideas were wrong.I attend about 4 meetings a week and the 12 step programme has changed my life.

Look forward to hearing later how you got on.

LOL... just take a pass on the Kool Aid and you'll be fine, LOL The coffee is usually pretty good though...

Don't leave without a copy of the Big Book ("Alcoholics Anonymous"), they have them at meetings for anyone who needs one... Read it before you decide if AA will work for you or not... Meetings are meetings, AA is in the book.

Good for you for doing what you need to do to get and stay sober.

Though I am not an AA person, I was scared to death when I stopped drinking. :)

Thanks again all
 

Lots of good input. I'm going to check out the other sober systems too.

Please will you come back and tell us how it went? xx

I was someone who never felt AA was for me. I had gone to a few meetings years ago but obviously wasn't ready to stop drinking. And my drinking wasn't where it got to a few months ago (drinking most nights for over a year).

Three months ago I stopped completely after a big argument with my partner. I stayed stopped for 7 weeks on my own but then drank 3 more times (with shorter breaks) over the course of three weeks. I was/am afraid that I would go back to old habits so joined this site and became open to the idea of AA. Obviously just trying to stay stopped on my own wasn't working.

I've been to four meetings thus far and it definitely was not what I expected. I have even read the first part of the BigBook. Do I relate exactly to everyone and everything said at an AA meeting? No, absolutely not. But at each meeting there has been something said I can relate to. And, I do enjoy the actual meeting as you aren't really forced to say anything and can just sit back and listen.

I think it is powerful to sit in a room full of people who have admitted they have a drinking problem and couldn't control it (just like me). I have yet to work the steps and have been too shy to ask for a sponsor yet---but I will get there.

My shyness is killer--so after the meetings I still tend to just go and not say too much. I will get there. I figure it may just take me some more time. Was I afraid to admit that I had a drinking problem in front of others? Sure I was. But again, I am legitimately shy and this comes out in all sorts of social situations, not just AA meetings.

I may go to a new meeting tonight. So far I have attended women only meetings and would like to attend a few mixed to see if there is a difference.

Good luck with whatever you decide. :)

I learned my shyness was self-centeredness.....

Those 12 steps saved my life.

Try several meetings.....

with love & hugs,

Just go and listen...Look for similarities...Not differences. What's a POD person? All I know about AA is it has kept this hopeless drunk sober for 17 months...When nothing else did. If that makes me a POD person...I'll take it.